Encirclement

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Kumogakure had long since investigated how many experts Konoha possessed.

In Yugito's view, excluding Orochimaru, who had defected, and the deceased Fourth Hokage and his wife, there were probably fewer than five people in all of Konoha capable of leading a raid behind enemy lines like this. Because of that, the Uchiha clan head and the Third Hokage, who had not yet appeared, became the targets of her suspicion.

At that moment, a Kumogakure shinobi hurried into the command post. "The village just sent the latest report."

After receiving the message and reading it, Killer B, Yugito, and Aida all looked surprised.

It turned out that the other three secret warehouses that had been attacked had not suffered any losses. On the contrary, Kumogakure had wiped out the Konoha ANBU who raided them and had even captured one ANBU member alive.

After interrogation through genjutsu, the captured Konoha ANBU revealed everything he knew.

As a result, Konoha ANBU Team Eleven appeared for the first time in Kumogakure's upper leadership's field of view.

"A four-person ANBU squad from Konoha killed more than three hundred of our people?" Yugito paused, then continued, "Could Lord Raikage have made a mistake?"

Killer B and Aida also looked stunned.

The only people inside Kumogakure's command post who could accomplish such a thing were Killer B and Yugito, the two perfect jinchuriki. Even Aida, the deputy commander, did not have that ability.

It was not that Aida was weak.

It was that he did not have enough chakra.

Or rather, no normal shinobi could possess enough chakra to slaughter nearly a hundred times their own number in a single night.

'Konoha's ANBU Team Eleven must be eliminated.'

That thought rose in all three of their minds at the same time.

After the three exchanged glances, Yugito stepped forward. "I will kill them."

Inside the Land of Hot Water.

"Enemy attack!"

"Careful, everyone! He's behind us..."

"Send a distress signal, now!"

Amid the noise and panic, Naoki charged into a Kumogakure transport team with Kusanagi-maru in hand.

The Kumogakure chunin leading the team immediately rushed to meet him with a kunai.

"Heh..."

Seeing this, Naoki allowed himself a faint smile.

He could no longer remember how many Kumogakure shinobi had tried to block Kusanagi-maru with an ordinary kunai.

Clang.

After a crisp sound, just as expected, the lead Kumogakure chunin and the kunai in his hand were both cut cleanly in half by Kusanagi-maru.

Without the chunin leader, the remaining Kumogakure genin barely resisted before Naoki cut them down.

Only the final genin, knowing he was doomed, resolutely detonated the explosive tags hidden inside the transport cart, blowing himself and all the supplies into the sky.

Naoki had escorted supplies several times during the Third Shinobi World War and was very familiar with this routine, so he had already moved away and was not caught in the explosion.

His target was not the supplies themselves, so there was no need to take risks.

After circling the battlefield and confirming there were no survivors, he picked up the lead Kumogakure chunin's kunai, which had been broken into two pieces, and casually put it into the storage pouch at his waist.

If he allowed the broken kunai to remain on the battlefield, Kumogakure would judge from the smooth cut that Naoki possessed a treasured blade.

Once Kumogakure learned that information, future raids would become much harder for him.

After confirming one last time that he had left no useful traces behind, Naoki did not linger. He left the scene immediately.

Before long, Yugito Nii, Kumogakure's Two-Tails jinchuriki, arrived with a large group of Kumogakure shinobi.

Seeing the wreckage and the front-line supplies reduced to ash, the Kumogakure shinobi all looked grim. Yugito, in particular, could barely hold back her anger. Her pupils had already turned into the beastlike eyes of Matatabi, the Two-Tails.

A Kumogakure jonin walked over and shook his head at Yugito. "No survivors."

Yugito forced down her rage. "No clues at all?"

The jonin nodded. "Same as before. Our people were all killed by one sword strike. The attacker is still that taijutsu expert who uses a short blade. His style is somewhat similar to Konoha's White Fang back then."

Yugito gritted her teeth and snarled, "Chase him. He cannot have gone far."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

At Yugito's order, the Kumogakure shinobi at the scene immediately used the Body Flicker Technique, turning into streaks of afterimages as they searched in every direction.

Sensing the pursuers behind him, Naoki smiled slightly and formed a seal, releasing a Shadow Clone.

His main body and the Shadow Clone separated quickly, moving left and right in different directions.

After using the Shadow Clone to shake off the pursuit, Naoki arrived at a crevice in a high cliff. The place was not only hidden but also had a broad field of vision. For a dojutsu kekkei genkai shinobi with powerful perception like Naoki, it was an ideal hiding spot.

He took out a military ration pill and chewed it while recoating Kusanagi-maru with poison and considering his next move.

Over the past week, Naoki had attacked three small Kumogakure transport squads in succession. Although he had not destroyed many supplies or caused Kumogakure massive casualties, he had caused them plenty of trouble. Several Kumogakure transport routes had become tense and paranoid.

With the rear unstable, Kumogakure's offensive inside the Land of Fire had been forced to slow down.

Kumogakure's abnormal behavior immediately drew Konoha's attention. Not only that, but the other Great Shinobi Villages closely watching the conflict also noticed the strange shift in Kumogakure's movements.

Almost by unspoken agreement, everyone's gaze turned toward the Land of Hot Water, positioned between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, as if this place had become the key to the conflict between Konoha and Kumogakure.

At the same time, as Naoki and the others became more active, Konoha ANBU Team Eleven rapidly became Kumogakure's top target. More and more Kumogakure experts joined the encirclement against Team Eleven.

On Naoki's side alone, the pursuit had begun with only one jonin squad.

Now Kumogakure had not only deployed Yugito Nii, the Two-Tails jinchuriki, but had also sent more than twenty jonin. This level of force was already comparable to an operation against a Kage-level expert.

Suddenly, Naoki's focus slipped while he was coating Kusanagi-maru with poison.

Just now, he sensed his Shadow Clone disappear. That alone was nothing. A Shadow Clone was only bait to draw away pursuers. What surprised him was how abruptly it vanished and how little memory it sent back.

In other words, that Shadow Clone had been killed instantly.

Naoki was still not highly proficient with the Shadow Clone Technique, and his technique had room to improve. Even so, the clone had inherited at least half of his combat strength and ocular power. For such a clone to be killed instantly meant the opponent was not only strong, but also extremely fast.

Fast enough that a Shadow Clone inheriting half of Naoki's ocular power could not react at all.

Leaning against the cliff wall, Naoki looked toward the direction where the Shadow Clone had disappeared and smiled lazily. "Someone that strong... who could it be?"

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